RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 355 BC in Valentia, Elix is a mysterious, itinerant clairvoyant who is known for her ability to predict the future and communicate with alternate dimensions so accurately that she constantly must stay on the move to escape time traveling cyborg witch hunters.
Born 185 AD in Burdigala, Gaius is the prodigal son of the wealthy governor of Aquitania. He frequently disappears to alternate dimensions to indulge in drug and gambling fueled blenders, and is especially fond of cybergladiator contests from the distant future.
Born in 114 AD in Augusta Vindelicorum, Vin is a battled hardened P.O.W. forced to fight as a gladiator in Rome who, after earning his freedom after multiple victories, opted to keep fighting for the love of killing.
Born 1955 AD in Tolosa, Ricki is a hairdresser, gossip, and fan of Italo disco who mixed up her cell phone for an interdimensional portal device and was transferred to the 1st century AD where she continues to cut hair and spread rumours in the public baths.
Born 299 BC in Perinthus, Epa fought with a Celtic war band that invaded Asia and founded Galatia. Epa’s mind and body were often possessed by a 33rd century AD version of herself who plugged in to experience the glory of defeating the Seleucid king Antiochus I Soter in the Battle of Elephants.
Born 277 AD in Petra, Ruth was sentenced to death for sacrificing children to Pluto. She opted to die by glory and face an impossibly difficult opponent to the death in the gladiator arena.
Born 2174 AD in Saldae to a patrician Vandal family, Thora is the hotel concierge at the Atlanta Hotel in Neo-Carthage and the enduring wife of the bitter and crippled junkie veteran Wulfric. Thora possesses a quiet strength and a deep sense of loyalty, caught between her disapproval of Wulf’s dangerous extortion schemes and her unwavering support for him. As a result, she provides a stabilizing force and moral compass for her husband while longing for a more peaceful and stable life.
Born 1996 AD in Tarraco, Oza is the sharp-witted assistant to Vittoria Creedus in Neo-Carthage’s Bizarre Bazaar. With the help of her pet skunk whose spray erases memories, she quietly steals from unsuspecting customers while keeping up appearances. Oza’s cleverness keeps her schemes hidden, but in a city where secrets are dangerous currency, her luck may not last forever.
Born 213 BC in Rome, Cambria and her sister Ursula were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Cambria, who had a history of brawling in the streets in her youth, was installed by her patrician father as a military commander in a reserve unit to keep her busy and out of trouble.
Omarosa, born 321 BC in Babylon, is an illegitimate child of Alexander the Great trained to kill from a young age. Fearing nothing, she volunteered to enter an interdimensional portal in an attempt to conquer more worlds in the name of her dying father.
Born 125 BC in Sinope, Ted was raised by circus freaks and has become well known for his talents as an animal whisperer. He was enslaved by the invading Romans and sent to Rome to toil in the gladiator business.
Born 219 BC in Larissa, Zoe is the rebellious daughter of a wealthy lord who cast her lot with the invading Romans before the Battle of Cynoscephalae. She ended up wedding a soldier, Viggo, with whom she ran away by funding a voyage to an alternate steampunk dimension that has been ravaged by the undead.
Born in 99 AD in Spain during they heyday of Emperor Trajan, Augustina was sent to the to the gladiator pits after being falsely accused of murdering her parents. After showing great promise as a fighter, she was recruited by a women’s gladiator league from the 28th century AD.
Born 288 AD, Scout was born to parents exiled to Britannia after their defeat by Probus in 278 AD. Having won multiple archery contests, she was captured by time traffickers from a Romanesque 20th century AD alternate dimension to compete as a shopping mall gladiator.
Born 266 AD in Basel to dimension-hopping inventors from the 23rd century, Xylon learned from his mother how to make advanced weapons, and from his father how to use them. Now he travels across space and time in search of his next fight.
